Description:

Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame is a study in obsession, memory, and emotional unraveling—its lush orchestration and psychological nuance offering ample dramatic opportunity for its principal characters. As Lisa, Mietta Sighele rises to the task with soaring vocal lines and a crystalline purity of tone.

In the pivotal role of the Countess, Magda Olivero—long renowned for the remarkable preservation of her voice well into her sixties—has little chance here to showcase her vocal abilities. Yet what she offers instead is a masterclass in character acting. She leans into the role’s eerie ambiguity with both relish and empathy, crafting a portrait that is at once sinister and strangely sympathetic. It’s a performance that lingers not for its vocalism, but for its dramatic insight.

In Mono

OD 12222-3